When the United States federal government entered a shutdown from October 1st through 16th in the year 2013 due to a lack of appropriated funds at the start of the new 2014 federal fiscal year, Congressman Richard Neal (D-Springfield) issued the following statement: “I am very disappointed that Tea Party intransigence has caused the first federal government shutdown in 17 years. The American people expect and deserve more from their elected representatives. More than 800,000 federal workers have already been furloughed without pay, and our economy will now lose $1 billion a day due to this unnecessary and unwise political stunt. I share the view of the vast majority of people in this country who believe this is no way to govern.”[1]
Citing the actions of Tea Party-affiliated Senator Ted Cruz’s demands for delaying or defunding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Neal said in a press release: “I strongly oppose any effort to defund, delay or repeal the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. This law passed both houses of Congress in 2010, was the central issue of President Obama’s successful re-election campaign in 2012, and ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court the same year. It will provide affordable and quality health care for more than 60 million people. Children can stay on their parent’s health insurance until they are 26 years old. People with pre-existing medical conditions cannot be denied coverage. And you can’t get kicked out if you get sick. In fact, millions of Americans are already beginning to enroll in the health insurance exchanges. Using the Affordable Care Act, which is the law of the land, as a tool to shut down the federal government was irresponsible and wrong. I will continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to reach a common sense solution to this self-created crisis.”[2]
Neal, who was first elected to Congress in 1988, joined his fellow colleagues of the Massachusetts congressional delegation in writing a letter to House Speaker John Boehner’s office urging him to end the government stalemate immediately and bring a clean continuing resolution for an up or down vote. “We are writing this letter, as a delegation, to encourage you to immediately bring to the House floor a clean concurrent resolution to restore funding of the federal government,” as said in the letter. “Additionally, we are also writing to support a debt limit debate that is conducted without conditions attached to avoid the risk of default.”[3] But the blame game had begun not long afterwards. According to a poll released by the Western New England University Polling Institute, 56% of Massachusetts voters blamed congressional Republicans for the shutdown, compared to 16% for President Obama, 5% for congressional Democrats, and 18% for “all of the above.”[4] “What this means for Massachusetts is when Republicans run for office here, they have to thread the needle very carefully,” said Tim Vercellotti, the director of the Polling Institute and a professor of political science at Western New England University. “They want to mobilize the few Republicans that are here, but they also need to persuade independent voters in particular that they’re different from the national party.”[5]
Nevertheless, Congressman Neal told The Republican/MassLive.com that a compromise would be reached to end the government shutdown and avoid default. “It’s going to set sail,” he said. “It will get done. Government will open. The debt ceiling will be raised. […] The most important consideration here is this never should have happened. This was a manufactured crisis and it was ill considered from day one.”[6]
Works Cited
- http://neal.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=340:statement-of-congressman-richard-e-neal-on-the-federal-government-shutdown-and-the-affordable-care-act&catid=10&Itemid=10
- http://neal.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=340:statement-of-congressman-richard-e-neal-on-the-federal-government-shutdown-and-the-affordable-care-act&catid=10&Itemid=10
- http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/10/massachusetts_delegates_to_us.html
- http://www1.wne.edu/assets/112/WNE_Polling_-_Govt_Shutdown,_Health_Care_TABLES_(Oct_2013).pdf
- http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/10/massachusetts_voters_blame_con.html
- http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/10/us_rep_richard_neal_government.html
I think it was a good initiative by congressman Neil to write a letter to House Speaker Boehner urging him to end the shutdown. This allow’s Neil to concretely show his constituents that he opposes the shutdown. It also allow’s Neil to claim that he took action to end the shutdown. In showing his clear opposition congressman Neil demonstrates his dedication to democracy. I am proud to have a representative from my state show this initiative. The democrats were effective in avoiding blame for the shutdown. This action by Neil added to this position of the democratic party.
The effort exemplified by Neil is admirable, but the actions of one representative may have little or no effect considering the size of congress and the house. He may claim he took action against the shutdown, but simply requesting its end, rather than proposing a solution, does not solve anything.
The blog does a great job illustrating the issue through the lens of the Congressman. It was a very big deal all around America, and having the view of a man who was in the epicenter of the issue is really cool. I do not agree with the press releases though. Congressman Neil blaming the Teaparty for the whole shut down is just absolutely wrong. Statements like that are the exact reason why we had the shutdown. The inability for both sides to come together and compromise. The blame should be put on everyone in Congress.
The blog does a great job illustrating the issue through the lens of the Congressman. It was a very big deal all around America, and having the view of a man who was in the epicenter of the issue is really cool. I do not agree with the press releases though. Congressman Neil blaming the Teaparty for the whole shut down is just absolutely wrong. Statements like that are the exact reason why we had the shutdown. The inability for both sides to come together and compromise. The blame should be put on everyone in Congress.
I think Neil is doing a fantastic job in this case by speaking out about this issue. I know he will not be popular among his peers for calling the government shutdown a “political stunt”. However it is unacceptable that people are missing work because the government shuts down. We should never be suffering from a manufactured crisis, which can only benefit large corporations.
While many people blamed one party or another for the shutdown, I looked at it as a clear representation of the lack of compromise between parties and branches of government. The United States is not supposed to be governed in only the way one party wants it to be; to please the most people is to compromise between the two. I feel that the Republicans felt as if no compromise was being met, thus decided to put their foot down. While there could have potentially been better ways to handle the issue, I do not think that one party can be at fault. There would never be a government shutdown without prompting, in my opinion. While I think it is mature for Neal to urge Boehner to end the shutdown, I think this also needs to be kept in mind.
I think it is pretty much understood that a government shutdown is not what we want. However, it must be looked at through the other lens. The GOP is trying to send a message albeit in a strong and controversial way. There is a lot of divide within Congress and the government shutdown can be contributed to that. Both voices are not being heard. And Neal himself is only one person in the House of 435 people. He needs a lot more support behind that but this story is almost ancient history.
I think it’s a nice gesture to make, to explain how this shutdown should never have happened. However as he said himself
“It will get done. Government will open. The debt ceiling will be raised. […] The most important consideration here is this never should have happened. This was a manufactured crisis and it was ill considered from day one.â€
The whole “Government Shutdown” was a GOP engineered publicity stunt and a poorly concealed one at that. So really all this has done by addressing it is giving them more attention. Overall I don’t get it.
Ending the government shutdown is an extremely important policy decision. It prohibits both sides from passing legislation and leaves many jobs without pay. Finding a solution to the spending crisis is a key component of big government. Finding a balance to please both sides of the table is the next step in the process of getting the government back on track.
I don’t understand why so many members of Congress make it their goal to defund and destroy the Affordable Care Act? Why don’t we actually FUND it and make it into something worth while instead of a constantly bickering over it? Inevitabley however, this would require raising income taxes et cetera if we realyl wanted to see a properly funded Affordable Care Act with low cost prescription medication…and I don’t forsee that happening.
Congressman Neal does a good job of explaining how absurd the government shutdown was. Senator Cruz essentially shut down the government over a bill that the majority of the country had expressed support for (through re-electing President Obama). I hope we can go another 17 years without putting ourselves in such a ridiculous situation again.